I got the interview by seeing the vacancy on caterer.com and applying via the Hilton website. I received a call a week later and was invited to a one to one interview. The interviewer was a very nice bloke but came across as quite inexperienced when it comes to assessing candidates in the sense that he was just reading questions and having an informal chat about the job. He had loads of questions but skipped about half of them, easily. I tried to enquire about progression opportunities in order to get a higher salary but I did not get the feeling that there were many. The interviewer was the F&B supervisor and his wage was only £1 above minimum wage apparently, and it took him years to get to that position. I was then invited to a trial shift behind the bar for a couple of hours. I was shown around and it was quite casual, I wasn't really being scrutinised, it was just a nice lady keeping an eye on me and telling me a bit about the drinks, how to pull pints, etc. They asked me to bring in my passport and NI number as well as two references and then they went quiet for a week. I then received an email from the company inviting me to an open interview day, which was obviously a mistake on their end as I've been for an interview already (!). I answered the email stating this and a day or so later I got a voice mail in which I was offered the job. Overall, I got the feeling that they were quite disorganised and not very professional, specially for a company of this calibre.

Simulation process “The Hilton simulation was an online role-play assessment designed to evaluate communication, service, and problem-solving skills in a realistic hotel environment. It included short video scenarios where I responded to guest requests, described menu items, and demonstrated how I would handle customer service situations. The simulation helped showcase my ability to stay calm, professional, and guest-focused.”